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Are mortgage rates finally back to normal?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:10:49 GMT

“Numerology” tries to find reality within various measurements of economic and real estate trends.Buzz: Mortgage rates are back above the inflation rate for the first time in nearly two years.Source: My trusty spreadsheet compared Freddie Mac’s average 30-year month rates vs. the 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index as a way to gauge where this important loan rate should be.Fuzzy math: What’s the proper level for mortgage rates without the Federal Reserve’s meddling?ToplineMortgage rates in March averaged 6.5% vs. a 5% inflation rate. That put home loans 1.5 percentage points above the rise in the cost of inflation. That’s the largest premium for home loans since November 2020.Home loans priced above the inflation rate make economic sense. Lenders don’t want to be paid back with dollars deflated by a surging cost of living.But during the pandemic era, the Federal Reserve used its powers to create historically cheap money as a boost to a coronavir...

More peril for Trump in pending probes than NY: AP-NORC poll

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:10:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has emerged largely unscathed politically from his New York indictment. But a new poll suggests that investigations in Georgia and Washington could prove more problematic.Only 4 in 10 U.S. adults believe Trump acted illegally in New York, where he has been charged in connection with hush money payments made to women who alleged sexual encounters, according to the new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. More — about half — believe he broke the law in Georgia, where he is under investigation for interfering in the 2020 election vote count.The poll finds about half feel similarly about his role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and his handling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago, which are both under investigation by the Justice Department.The findings suggest potential future charges in those cases against Trump may resonate more deeply with the American public than his allege...

Anger at new retirement age fuels further protests in France

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:10:49 GMT

GANGES, France (AP) — Hundreds of people opposed to the new law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 gathered Thursday in a small town in southern France ahead of a visit by President Emmanuel Macron, while scattered protests were staged elsewhere.Macron’s trip to Ganges comes amid a concerted new effort by him and his government to move on from the furor caused by the pension reform.Demonstrators sang what has become the anthem of the retirement protests: “We are here, we are here, even if Macron doesn’t want (us to be here), we are here.” The French president met with teachers and students at a middle school, where he promoted his education policies. At his arrival, the site was hit by a power cut, which the local branch of the hard-left CGT union said was a protest action. Dozens of police were deployed in the small town to prevent protesters from getting close to the school. They briefly used tear gas to disperse people who tried to storm the barriers. On Wednesday, Macron w...

Fighting in Khartoum threatens to unravel Sudan cease-fire

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:10:49 GMT

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Fighters from Sudan’s rival factions battled around the main military installation in central Khartoum and other parts of the country’s capital on Thursday, threatening to unravel the latest attempt at a cease-fire as foreign governments looked for ways to extract their citizens trapped in the conflict.With some parts of the Sudanese capital relatively calmer than previous days, the exodus of residents in Khartoum from their homes appeared to accelerate. “Massive numbers” of people, mostly women and children, were leaving in search of safer areas, said Atiya Abdulla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors’ Syndicate.The 24-hour cease-fire, which came into effect Wednesday evening, is the most significant attempt yet to halt violence between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The rivals’ fight for control of Sudan has turned the densely populated Khartoum, its neighboring city of Omdurman and other parts of the country into war zones, with mi...

NATO head defiantly says Ukraine belongs in alliance one day

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:10:49 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg defiantly declared Thursday that Ukraine deserves to join the military alliance and pledged continuing support for the country on his first visit to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion just over a year ago.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Stoltenberg, who has been instrumental in marshaling support from NATO’s members, to push for even more from them, including warplanes, artillery and armored equipment.The Kremlin has given various justifications for going to war, but repeated Thursday that preventing Ukraine from joining NATO was a key goal behind its invasion, arguing that Kyiv’s membership in the alliance would pose an existential threat to Russia.NATO leaders said in 2008 that Ukraine would join the alliance one day, and Stoltenberg has repeated that promise throughout the course of the war — though the organization has established no pathway or timetable for membership.“Let me be clear, Ukraine’s rightful place is in...

Suspect in deadly Maine shootings to appear in court

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:10:49 GMT

WEST BATH, Maine (AP) — A Maine man who police say confessed to shooting seven people — killing four of them, including his parents — after being released from prison was due to appear before a judge Thursday.Police have not discussed what might have been a motive behind the shootings on a rural property in Bowdoin and then along a busy interstate highway in Yarmouth, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from Maine’s largest city, Portland.The suspect, Joseph Eaton, has been jailed since his arrest Tuesday at a chaotic scene along Interstate 295, where traffic backed up as heavily armed law enforcement searched the area.Eaton, 34, had been released four days before the shootings from the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. Police say his mother picked up from prison April 14 after he completed a sentence for aggravated assault.The latest in a string of mass shootings in the United States began in the small town of Bowdoin, where four people were killed Tuesday, with three bodies d...

US unemployment claims tick up to 245,000, but still low

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:10:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but remains low by historic standards.U.S. jobless claims rose by 5,000 to 245,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out week-to-week ups and downs, fell by 500 to 239,750. At the start of the year, weekly claims were running around 200,000 and they have gradually moved higher.The weekly claims numbers are a proxy for layoffs, and they show that American workers enjoy unusual job security despite rising interest rates, economic uncertainty and fears of a looming recession. The U.S. job market is healthy overall. At 3.5% last month, the unemployment was a tick above January’s half-century low 3.4%. Employers added 236,000 jobs in March, down from 472,000 in January and 326,000 in February but still strong by historic standards.The inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve worry that a tight job market puts upward pressure on wages...

Netanyahu taps far-right minister for New York consul post

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:10:49 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated a Cabinet minister known for inflammatory comments and for leading a grassroots campaign against African migrants to the post of consul general in New York, a high-profile job that deals with outreach to American Jews.May Golan, currently a minister without portfolio in Netanyahu’s government, built her political career on staunch opposition to African migrants in Israel. She calls them “infiltrators” and has portrayed the estimated 40,000 migrants, mostly concentrated in poor neighborhoods of the southern part of the city of Tel Aviv, as threats to security.After a failed bid to enter parliament with the ultranationalist Jewish Power party in 2013, she joined Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party and was first elected to parliament in 2019. Netanyahu recently promised Golan the role of the as yet uncreated Ministry for the Status of Women. His office confirmed media reports on Wednesday that he has offere...

In B.C., the kids are not alright

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:10:49 GMT

In today’s Big Story podcast, people in and around the B.C. school system report seeing many kids struggling with disciplinary issues, socialization struggles, attention trouble and anxiety. It’s causing disruptions and delays in classrooms, and severely straining a system that was struggling even without the added load. Sonia Aslam and Mike Lloyd are reporters at CityNews Vancouver, they join The Big Story to discuss the many different stories of hardship they heard while reporting their recent series about the state of B.C. public schools. “These parents are struggling to get answers, and they’re struggling to get help for their kids,” says Aslam. “You’re not in school every day with your children … and when you see the consequence of it at home, that’s a really tough pill to swallow.”So what’s happening with school-aged kids, and what do they need to get back on track?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.You ca...

Michelin recalls snow tires that don’t have enough traction

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:10:49 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Michelin is recalling more than 542,000 snow tires in the U.S. because they don’t have enough traction to work in all snowy conditions.The recall covers certain Agilis CrossClimate C-Metric tires that Michelin says don’t meet U.S. safety standards. The tire maker says in documents posted Thursday by safety regulators that tires without sufficient traction can increase the risk of a crash. Dealers will replace the tires at no cost to owners. Owners will get interim notification letters starting June 12. They’ll get another letter once the replacements are available.The company says initial tire testing was done with the wrong tire pressure. Later tests by Michelin discovered the problem.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has posted a document with the tire sizes on its website. The Associated Press